Food handling apparatus



Filed Dec. 1, 1952 INVENTOR wwwrxfww ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PAEENT QFFICE FOOD HANDLENG APPARATUS a corporation of Ohio Application December 1, 1932, Serial No. 645,192

6 Claims.

This invention relates to food handling apparatus, and more particularly to slicing machines of the type having a rotary knife.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide in apparatus of this character for simplicity of construction, and for easy and safe cleaning to affordv a high degree of sanitation.

Another object of the invention is to provide in apparatus of this character having a rotary knife with a recessed front face, a guard plate for the recessed portion of the knife constructed to afford access to a portion of the front face of the knife within the recess adjacent the portion where impurities tend to accumulate upon normal operation to provide for easy and ready cleaning without removal of parts of the machine, while at the same time maintaining the material being sliced out of contact with the front face of the knife within the recess.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character having a scraper mechanism for the face of the knife, with a sim-' ple and effective construction and arrangement of parts such that the scraper is freely exposed and visible for cleaning and adjustment to give improved sanitation and greater safety in cleaning.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawing and the appended claims. a

In the drawing, in which like characters of reference are used to denote like parts throughout the several views thereof,

Fig. l is a side elevational view of apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention, the View being taken from the front side of the machine with a portion of the carriage supporting track broken away; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, in which is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral H1 indicates the base of the machine which is illustrated as a casting, generally rec' tangular in shape. Mounted on the base is an electric motor H which drives through suitable reduction gearing (not shown) enclosed within the housing 2 a knife shaft 13 carrying a rotary disk knife It. A suitable meat supporting carriage 15 having a material supporting trough or plate It is mounted for reciprocation across the front face of the knife along a track bar l'i supported by upward extensions I8 and IQ at the front side of the base H]. A portion of bar I! is broken away in Fig. l to better illustrate parts to the rear thereof. A downwardly projecting portion 28 of the carriage it engages the auxiliary guide bar 2| and gives additional support and stability to the carriage. Mounted on the carriage at the upper rear side of the meat supporting trough or plate it is a guide rod 23 on which is slidably and rotatably mounted a pusher plate supporting arm 24, in which is pivotally mounted the shaft 25 of a suitable pusher plate 26. A handle 2'! is connected to the shaft 25 tocontrol the movement of the pusher plate and also to reciprocate the carriage along its track bars.

A suitable gauge plate 28 is mounted for adjustment on the base It to variouspositions parallel with the cutting plane of the knife, thus determining the thickness of the slices to be cut. Adjustment of the gauge plate is controlled by a graduated handwheel 2s. Mounted on the base at the rear side of the knife is a slice receiving tray Bil which receives the slices as they are cut by the knife upon the reciprocation of the carriage. Mounted on the upper portion of housing 12 is a casing 32 enclosing suitable sharpening mechanism for the knife edge. Grinding wheels or stones (not shown) are arranged Within casing 32 in the usual manner, one for grinding the rear bevelled edge 34 of the knife and one for removing the burr from the front flat face 35 of the knife. A removable cover 36 overlaps the knife edge and is fastened to casing 32 by thumb screws 31 and 33 which screw within aligned threaded openings in lugs 39 and 68 of cover 36 and in casing 32. An annular knife guard 42 encloses the rear edge of the knife is, this guard having at its upper end a lug it which fits between lug 40 and casing 32 and is fastened in place by thumb screw 38. At the lower end of the annular guard 42, there is a lug M which is fastened to a suitable portion of the base and related parts by a thumb screw 35. As these parts described above form no part of the present invention, their particular construction and mounting is not described in detail, and any suitable construction and mounting thereof can be employed. The particular construction shown in the drawing is that illustrated and claimed in my Patent 1,944,181 dated January 23, 1934.

The knife is provided with a circular recess 41 in the front face thereof to receive a guard plate 38 which is generally circular in shape. The

clearance between the peripheral edge of the guard and the flange of the recess of the knife is exaggerated in the drawing to show that they do not touch, but in practice this clearance can made quite small. The forward surface of guard plate 48 is set substantially flush with or in the plane of the cutting edge of the knife, and the guard surface is substantially parallel with the path of movement of the carriage and the material supported thereby. Such front guard plates and their function are well known in the art, being for the purpose of preventing rubbing contact between the front surface of the rapidly rotating knife and the exposed surface of the material being sliced.

In order to remove adhering scraps and particles of meat, grease, and the like from the surface of the edge of the knife, so as to prevent these particles from being thrown off about the machine and getting into confined spaces diflicult to clean, a scraper 5B is mounted to bear against the peripheral edge of the front surface of the knife adjacent the lower edge thereof, as is customary. The base If? is provided with an upward extension 52 at the front side of the knife opposite the extension l9. Removably mounted within the space between the extensions 19 and 52 is a scrap pan or container 53 adapted to underlie scraper 55 and receive the scraps or particles falling from the knife and removed by scraper 58. The scraper may be of any suitable construction, that shown being illustrated and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 540,281, filed May 27, 1931.

In operation, it is found that particles of meat and grease tend to accumulate on the front surface of the knife behind the front guard 43. It frequently happens that operators of these machines in butcher shops, grocery stores, and the like, fail to remove the front guard plate and associated parts at regular intervals for cleaning, even though these parts are readily removable from the machine. The knife scraper is also a place of accumulation of meat scraps and grease and should be frequently cleaned. Where this scraper is mounted beneath an overhanging portion of the machine or in an unexposed position, the operator may allow this part to go for extended periods without cleaning, or else in attempting to reach the scraper in unexposed position without removing the parts is apt to be cut by contact with the edge of the rotary knife. The present construction obviates these objections and provides a machine of this character in which the surface of the rotary knife behind the front guard can be kept effectively clean without removal of the parts, and in which the scraper is so mounted in conjunction with the other parts as to be readily exposed for convenient access for cleaning and adjustment.

As shown, there is mounted on the upper surface of the base extension is by screws 55 a bar 55 which has an overhanging portion extending parallel with the face of the knife and along the front face thereof. A similar bar 5'3 is mounted by screws 58 upon the upper end of the extension 52, this bar having an overhanging portion which extends toward the bar 56. Each of the bars 56 and 5! is provided with a thickened wall indicated at 59 adjacent the end of the overhanging portions thereof. The bars terminate short of each other to leave an open space of substantial extent opposite the lower portion of the front face of the knife. Mounted in each bar behind the thickened wall portion thereof is an upwardly extending pin 62 fastened in place by a nut $3.

Guard plate $8 is in turn provided with spaced outwardly extending lugs 65 and 66 at the lower ends thereof adjacent the overhanging portions of the bars. The lugs may be conveniently formed integral with the front guard plate by stamping out in the desired shape and then bending the lugs over at right angles to the surface of the main portion of the guard plate. Each lug includes an outwardly extending portion which is connected by a curved partto a longitudinally extending projection that rests on the thickened wall portion 65 of the adjacent bar, and extends beyond this thickened wall portion, having an opening 66 which is received by the upwardly extending pin 52, to thereby support and center the guard plate. The upper end of the guard plate is provided with an outwardly offset lug 10 which extends beyond the recess in the knife and is fastened by screws II to a downwardly depending flange E2 of the front cover 36 of grinder casing 32. The guard plate is thus readily removable by simply removing the thumb nuts 31 and 38 to remove the cover 35 tog-ether with the plate 18 and then lifting the plate upwardly from the pins 62.

The portion of guard plate 48 between the outwardly extending lugs 65 and 66 is cut away as indicated at E5 so as to expose a portion of the front face of the knife within the recess 41 and adjacent the periphery of the recess. This cutaway portion is preferably located below the horizontal plane indicated at 16 of the lowermost portion of the material supported on the carriage i5, so that this opening is out of the normal path of travel of the material during the cutting operation. This provides an opening 15 of sufficient extent into which the operator may easily and conveniently insert a cleaning cloth against the front surface of the knife within the recess to wipe out any accumulation of material therein during running of the knife and without removing any of the parts. Centrifugal force produced during the normal rotation of the knife tends to move material on the front face of the knife within the recess outwardly into engagement with the flange of recess 41 where it can be readily wiped out through opening 15, so that a high degree of sanitation is attained although the parts may not be removed for cleaning. Due to the open construction of the base and the large opening provided between the bars 56 and 5'! in front of this cut-away portion 15 of the guard plate, free access and good visibility is afforded so that the operator can insert the cloth from above into the opening without danger of getting his fingers into contact with the edge of the knife.

As shown, bar 57 also forms a mounting for scraper 5!) which extends outwardly into the open space between the bars 55 and 51 so that the scraper is readiy accessible for cleaning, and is also clearly visible during operation so that the operator can readily note whether the scraper is in proper operating adjustment and can readily adjust it. A convenient mounting of the scraper is that shown in which it is pivoted about a pin l8 which extends downwardly from the thickened wall portion of bar 5'5, the scraper being spring pressed in the customary manner toward the face of the knife. As is readily apparent, the operator can also extend his hand downwardly through the open space provided and easily wipe off the scraper or adjust the same without danger of getting his fingers in contact with the cutting edge of the knife.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and

that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a slicing machine having a rotary knife with a recess in the front face thereof within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, an outwardly offset lug adjacent the upper end of said guard plate, supporting means for releasably clamping said lug in position, spaced outwardly extending lugs adjacent the lower portion of said guard plate on opposite sides of the vertical center line of said knife, means for releasably receiving and supporting said spaced outwardly extending lugs, the guard plate intermediate said lugs being broken away to expose a portion of the front face of said knife within said recess adjacent the periphery thereof, said machine being freely open in advance of said cut-away portion to afford unobstructed access thereto and good visibility thereof.

2. In a slicing machine having a base, a rotary knife supported on said base and having a recess in the front face thereof within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, upward extensions on said base adjacent opposite sides of the front face of said knife, spaced outwardly extending lugs adjacent,

the lower end of said front guard plate, means on said upward extensions for receiving and supporting the said spaced outwardly extending lugs, said guard plate having a cut-away portion intermediate said lugs exposing a portion of the front face of said knife within the said recess adjacent the periphery thereof, and the base between the upward extensions being open to expose the said cut-away portion for free access thereto and good visibility thereof for cleaning.

3. In a slicing machine having a base, a substantially vertical rotary knife supported on said base having a recess in the front face thereof -within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, upward extensions on said base adjacent opposite sides of the front face of said knife, spaced lugs adjacent the lower end of said guard plate, each lug having an outward projection connected to a longitudinally extending projection, the said longitudinally extending projections on the lugs extending away from each other and toward the upward extensions on said base, and pin and socket interconnections between the longitudinally extending projections of the lugs and the upward extensions on said base.

4. In a slicing machine having a base, a rotary knife supported on said base and having a recess in the front face thereof within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, upward extensions on said base adjacent opposite sides of the front face of said knife, spaced outwardly extending lugs adjacent the lower end of said front guard plate, means on said upward extensions for receiving and supporting the said spaced outwardly extending lugs, and a scraper carried by said base and bearing against the front face of said knife adjacent the periphery thereof intermediate said upward extensions on the base 5 and intermediate said lugs on the guard plate, the guard plate between the said lugs and the base between the said upward extensions being open to freely expose the said scraper for ready access thereto and good visibility thereof for cleaning and adjustment.

5. In a slicing machine having a base, a rotary knife supported on said base and having a recess in the front face thereof within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, upward extensions on said base adjacent opposie sides of the front face of said knife, a bar mounted on one of said upward extensions and having an overhanging portion extending along the front face of said knife, a second bar mounted on the other upward extension and having an overhanging portion extending toward the first mentioned bar and along the front face of said knife, the said bars terminating in spaced relation to each other to leave an open space opposite the lower portion of the front face of the knife, spaced outwardly extending lugs adjacent the lower end of said guard plate, means on the overhanging portions of said bars for receiving and supporting the said lugs, and a scraper mounted on the overhanging portion of one of said bars and extending into the open space between the said bars and lugs, said scraper having a blade portion bearing against the periphery of the front face of said knife within said open space.

6. In a slicing machine having a base, a rotary knife supported on said base and having a recess in the front face thereof within the cutting edge, a front guard plate for said knife positioned opposite said recess, upward extensions on said base adjacent opposite sides of the front face of said knife, a bar mounted on one of said upward extensions and having an overhanging portion extending along the front face of said knife, a second bar mounted on the other upward extension and having an overhanging portion extending toward the first mentioned bar and along the front face of the knife, the said bars terminating in spaced relation to each other to leave an open space opposite the lower portion of the front face of the knife, each said bar having a thickened wall adjacent the end of the overhanging portion thereof, an upwardly extending pin mounted in each bar beyond the thickened wall thereof, and spaced outwardly extending lugs adjacent the lower end of said guard plate, each lug resting on one of the thickened walls of the said bars and having an opening receiving the said pin carried by the respective bar for securing and centering the front guard in position.

HERBERT L. JOHNSTON. 

